If you’re finding yourself in need of a break from learning the already-stale-feeling details of today’s Spitzignation, TIME has just thing: in celebration of its eighty-fifth anniversary last week, the iconic newsweekly submits, for your procrastin—er, consideration, a selection of its best…and worst…covers.
The “best” options are worth a look, but, who are we kidding, the “worst” are much more fun. And the current leader for the “worst” cover, according to reader votes, is August 20, 1945’s “Fall of Japan” issue: a Japanese flag with a black-ink-brushed “X” over it. Which is, you know, pretty bad. But my money is on December 7, 1981’s “Cats” cover. (“CATS,” the headline purrs. “Love ’em! Hate ’em!”) Though you could also make a compelling case for August 13, 1973’s “The Good Life In Minnesota,” which features a zoomed-in image of a near-blindingly Nordic angler proudly displaying his catch. Bonus offense: the accompanying article on the Minnesotan Good Life was written by…Minnesota governor Wendell Anderson.
Full list here. Enjoy.
Megan Garber is an assistant editor at the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University. She was formerly a CJR staff writer.